Obituaries

JACK TORDOFF 1935-2021

Rally great Jack Tordoff died on 4 October after a lengthy illness. A lifelong enthusiast, Tordoff campaigned everything from Ford Cortina GTS to Saab 96s, winning various events including the Seven Dales Rally, the Morecambe Rally and the Granite City Rally. His greatest sporting achievement came in 1973 with victory in the Circuit of Ireland in a Porsche 911 (above).

He was also a gifted businessman who grew the family firm, originally called Tordoff Motors, from a single Bradford service station into one of the country’s largest franchise dealerships, with 52 sites across Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. His business empire, JCT600, was named for the registration number of a Mercedes-benz 600 that he bought in 1961.

NINO VACCARELLA 1933-2021

Targa Florio legend and Le Mans winner Nino Vaccarella has died at the age of 88. Affectionately nicknamed ‘The Flying Headmaster’ in reference to his day job at his family-owned school, Vaccarella was born in Sicily, home of the Targa, and became a specialist in the event, winning it three times.

His first victory came in 1965, driving with Lorenzo Bandini for Ferrari, and a second could have come for the pair a year later but for crashing out of the lead. Vaccarella won again in 1971, this time paired with Toine Hezemans in an Alfa T33/3, and for a final time in 1975, again for Alfa Romeo.

Adored by locals, before each event his name was painted on the public roads and buildings that made up the gruelling 45-mile Circuito Piccolo delle Madonie. But his career was so much more than the Targa: the ace won Le Mans outright in 1964 and the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1970, finishing on the podium in that event a further four times, as well as making four World Championship Formula One starts.

For Simon Taylor’s tribute to Vaccarella, turn to p53